Senior forward Seth Hinrichs dribbles past a Princeton defender to get to the basket.

Photos Courtesy of Lafayette Athletic Communications

The Lafayette men’s basketball has enjoyed an strong start to the season, moving to 4-2 after a recent win over Farleigh Dickinson.

In recent years, the Leopards have been lucky to grab two wins from their first six games, and breaking that habit has put the team in a good spot to improve moving forward.

“My freshman year we started 2-5, 2-4 or something like that and then my sophomore year was like 2-6, and last year was 0-5 so not since I’ve been here have we ever started this strong,” senior forward Seth Hinrichs said.

Much of the team’s preseason preparation has helped bring the team to this ferocious start.

“Having the six weeks of preparation and just the experience we’re bringing back, as well as crisp practices helped us start off fast,” Hinrichs said. “We didn’t cater to the freshmen and help them come along, they had to catch up rather than us wait for them, so I think that really helped too.”

Junior guard Bryce Scott, a three year starter, believes that the experience of this team is what is driving them forward.

“We have a very veteran team this year,” Scott said. “This is our fourth year starting these seniors and this is my third year and Nick’s second year, so it’s a very veteran group.”

The excellent three-point shooter went on to laud his team’s selflessness as a contributing factor to success, as well.

“This team compared to my past teams shares the ball really well, and no one really cares who scores,” Scott said. “That selflessness has been huge for us, especially at the beginning of the year because roles are defined in the first few games. No one really cares who scores as long as we’re winning and playing together, which has been huge for us.”

One moment in particular has resonated with both Hinrichs and Scott up to this point as an indication of the veteran resolve that this team has formed. Leading by 20 points at Penn, Lafayette was forced to suppress a stunning comeback by the fighting Quakers as they drew level in the second half.

“I think this team last year maybe would have wilted under that same kind of pressure, giving up a big lead like that,” Hinrichs said. “But we went on a 9-2 run from the 9:30 mark to the 2:30 mark and I think that’s a testament to guys really buckling down and having experience under their belt to try and win that game.”

Scott remembered the same moment just as proudly, praising the team’s resolve.

“We could’ve folded,” Scott said. “They could’ve definitely won the game, but we kinda pulled together because we’re a veteran group and our point guard especially, Nick Linder, took over for the last few minutes and we came together and didn’t fold. We played to our ability and stuck with it which is big for us.”

With some important games coming up in the next few weeks, the ambitious and rolling basketball team will hope to rely on good form to continue their success.

“It’s a long season and you don’t want to just have energy for the first quarter of the year,” Scott said. “You want to go through all the stages with that, so we’ll continue to work as hard as we can, one game at a time.”